[netnewswire] Advertising firm Chitika earlier this week rolled out a running tally calculating the number of iPads accessing the Internet via the device's Safari browser based on unique hits to its network of advertisements. According to current tallies, over 500,000 iPads have now been sold.

In a blog post, Chitika research Dan Ruby notes that the company's numbers have been registering significantly lower than official and estimated sales numbers, a phenomenon Ruby has attributed to some users not accessing the Internet. For example, by midday Monday, Chitika had registered nearly 270,000 iPads on its network, while Apple had already announced "over 300,000" iPads sold on Saturday with more sales obviously rolling in Sunday and early Monday. We've even heard that Apple may have sold over 750,000 iPads already.We've also learned that the WiFi iPad may not be seen as primarily an Internet surfing device. With estimates of over 300,000 iPads sold on release day and perhaps as many as 700,000 sold over the weekend, that only around 40% are showing up on the Internet may imply that people are buying the iPad for the apps, and spending most of their browsing time in the App Store.

While Chitika's methods may offer only a crude approximation of iPad sales, they do provide an interesting glimpse into the device's market growth. Beyond overall sales numbers, the report also provides data on new iPads appearing each day and breaks down sales and percentages by state.--In other new VERIZONs CEO has asked for rights to sell the iPhone:

In a brief article, the Associated Press [AP] reports that Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg yesterday revealed that his company has explicitly told Apple that it would like to carry the iPhone on its network.Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg says the company has told Apple that it wants to carry the iPhone. But he declined to say when -- or even if -- the popular smart phone will be available for Verizon Wireless customers.

The topic of the iPhone on Verizon in the U.S. has been popular ever since the device's exclusive release on AT&T's network, and the company has repeatedly mentioned its interest in bringing the popular device to its network. Seidenberg noted last October that the decision was "exclusively in Apple's court", but today's report seems to the first time he has publicly admitted that Verizon has directly asked Apple for the rights to the iPhone. The company has claimed that it is prepared to handle the network traffic should it be permitted to offer the iPhone.

Interest in a Verizon iPhone spiked again late last month after a Wall Street Journal report claiming that a Verizon-compatible iPhone is in the works.

Since ATTs exclusivity contract ends in June-Now iPhone will have 2 major carriers